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The Almighty Buck Bitcoin

Bitcoin Prices Surge 26% in November, Pass $8000 (bloomberg.com) 221

Bitcoin's value has increased more than 26% in less than three weeks, writes Bloomberg. An anonymous reader quotes their report: Bitcoin topped $8,000 for the first time, as investors set aside technology concerns that had derailed its advance earlier this month. Bitcoin rose 4.8 percent to $8,071.05 as of 7:17 a.m. Sydney time on Monday. It's now up more than 700 percent this year after shrugging off a tumble of as much as 29 percent earlier this month. It's been a tumultuous year for the largest cryptocurrency, with three separate slumps of more than 25 percent in value all giving way to subsequent rallies.
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Bitcoin Prices Surge 26% in November, Pass $8000

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  • by Ecuador ( 740021 ) on Sunday November 19, 2017 @05:48PM (#55583089) Homepage

    Some years ago I was saying how bitcoin's value increase is not something sustainable, apart from having many of the characteristics of a pyramid scheme, it is also a transaction system that by design supports very few transactions per second (and that at considerable cost in energy and bandwidth), so does not have as much real world potential as you'd think. But after it broke $1000 and kept going I ceased commenting on the bitcoin price, it defies my logic, it boggles my mind, so I'll just wait to see how it goes without trying to comprehend.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19, 2017 @06:04PM (#55583151)

      “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” -- JM Keynes

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It's the poor people who need BTC to pay ransoms or unlock their Macs that I feel sorry for. What was a $250 ransom a few weeks ago is over $1500 now, and climbing. Do the criminals adjust their demands daily to account for the exchange rate?

      • why feel sorry for them? their own stupidity put them in that position in the first place, if they have decided to double down on their stupidity by paying the ransom then they deserve everything it costs them.
    • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19, 2017 @07:15PM (#55583547)
      People who think bitcoin is a pyramid scheme also don't understand how the current financial systems work. They have no idea about interest rate, fedbank, bond prices, bond yields, QE, currency control, etc.  A friend even thought the dollar is backed by gold. lol
    • by DogDude ( 805747 ) on Sunday November 19, 2017 @09:01PM (#55584085)
      it defies my logic, it boggles my mind

      I said and keep saying the same thing about Trump. The explanation is the same: people are, by and large, really really dumb.
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Stop lying to yourself and take 1 hour to read the white paper. Then you will know why you should start buying. Its time to take money away from banks and governments.

    • "Take money away from banks and goverments?"

      Sounds like you don't understand money or bitcoin. The governments and banks create money, people converting their money to bitcoin doesn't take it away money from governments and banks. They still control the world financial systems, which none of the players in bitcoin have any control over.

    • by Coryoth ( 254751 ) on Sunday November 19, 2017 @11:07PM (#55584555) Homepage Journal

      Stop lying to yourself and take 1 hour to read the white paper. Then you will know why you should start buying. Its time to take money away from banks and governments.

      Even if I completely buy into that line of thinking it in no way justifies the current price of bitcoin. The current market for bitcoin used as a currency just isn't big enough for that sort of valuation. And the current spike only makes things worse: given the volatility its value as a currency decreases due to the uncertainty in exchange. The fact that its a fundamentally deflationary currency just exacerbates the problem. Why buy anything with bitcoins? If you just hold on to them they'll be worth twice as much next month, and a thousand times as much next year ... which just leads to a deflationary spiral where their only value is not as a currency but as a speculative investment.

      When bitcoins value is based on their actual utility (and actual usage) as a currency or means of exchange I might be interested: there is some good technology and ideas there. But that is not at all what the current valuations are based on -- they are based on bitcoin as a speculative investment vehicle and are spiralling out of all relation to any actual value.

      • Even if I completely buy into that line of thinking it in no way justifies the current price of bitcoin

        So, what's a reasonable price of bitcoin ? And if you apply the same reasoning, what would be a reasonable price for a kilogram of gold ?

        • Gold has the historic characteristic of being usable as collateral in a loan. This is why many people actually convert their countryâ(TM)s currency into physical gold. That sector of the market has volume and liquidity. Not to mention the overall market cap is like comparing a peanut to a watermelon.

          Bitcoin isnâ(TM)t there yet. And due to the way it works, I donâ(TM)t think it is even possible.

    • you don't understand how bitcoin works if you think this takes money away from banks and governments.
    • by Kiuas ( 1084567 )

      Stop lying to yourself and take 1 hour to read the white paper. Then you will know why you should start buying. Its time to take money away from banks and governments.

      You do understand bitcoin is worthless without fiat currencies, right? BC is not somehow detached and or independent from the global currency systems, that's one of the biggest myths about it circulated by people who don't really understand how BC derives its value. The market value of BC is measured in terms of fiat currencies, which by its

      • The value of Bitcoin rests upon the functionality of the global market and currency systems.

        Basically everything we have rests upon the functionality of everything else, bitcoin is not an exception. If all the major currencies crashed, you're not going to buy a loaf of bread from the supermarket with a gold coin either, because the supermarket won't have bread.

  • Ready... in 3... 2... 1... There goes all your investments in crypto-currencies! Bitcoin promises to make previous Wall Street boom & bust culture look relatively stable.
  • To everyone in the last story's comment section, enjoy your delicious word sandwich. It does have inherent use, inherent value, and is propped up by hardware and electricity cost and availability. How is it a scam if NOBODY is running it? It runs itself! Learn how crypto works before talking out your ass.
    • Inherent cost has never meant inherent value. This is a fundamental. Just because it cost you $10 to get a gallon of milk doesnâ(TM)t guarantee you can sell it for $10. Arguing against that is like arguing that the gravitational phenomenon doesnâ(TM)t exist.

  • When it really gets big some state actor will distribute a virus or disrupt power grids or internet connectivity to become the largest pool of processors and then take it over.
  • For some people, Bitcoin is a safety net [cointelegraph.com] against unstable governments.

    In the USA, the government is not even in control of its own currency. [businessinsider.com]

Ignorance is bliss. -- Thomas Gray Fortune updates the great quotes, #42: BLISS is ignorance.

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